The Broken Link
by I Will Achieve Vikturi
Summary: Nobody could have expected this. The Hero who is destined to save his land from certain doom, caught up in a game of love long lost. He blames himself for what happened, but does anybody really know who could be blamed?


It was a strange world the people there found themselves in, this world of brawl. Each contestant was protected by this odd magic-like barrier that prevented any major injuries from occurring, though minor ones were inevitable. They could all come here whenever they wanted to, with a couple of exceptions. They came from different universes entirely, from Hyrule to the Mushroom Kingdom, even to distant worlds never before heard of. Some even came from the same universe, but different timelines. Like a child and adult version of him or herself coming to this one place to fight.

The one who ran the entire realm that sat outside of Time itself, Master Hand, found it enjoyable to see his players testing their abilities in the form of brawling. He knew it was perfectly safe, and so did everyone else. You could not age or die here, as it was outside of Time. This allowed two different versions of oneself to be in the same place without tearing apart the fabric of the universe.

They were also given different rooms to stay in, though rarely ever used anyway. The only times they actually used their rooms were when they were purely exhausted and needed time to rest or recover before returning to their realms. They could stay for days on end if they wanted to, they were always welcome. The only time they could not come would be if they were truly needed in their own world, so desperately that they could not detract from their quest to obtain their relic and slay the giant beast of legend or some other thing.

Master Hand found it customary to see unusual behaviors among the different people, like the most powerful ones having a rather savage attitude towards the little ones, who would usually cower in fear only to remember that they could not die there. He never paid that any mind unless it got so out of hand that they could actually break that barrier that prevented damage to brawlers. They were then kicked out temporarily to give the other one time to recover.

That was all well and good, but there was one person in particular that acted exceptionally strange lately. He was so beside himself ever since one single fight that he was in. He had gone in excited to see what he could learn and come out depressed. Yes, a sort of sad song was playing while the fight went on, but nobody knew that it could affect him _that_ much.

And Master Hand was not the only one who noticed this odd change. Everybody saw that he was completely out of it, not caring to be in anything whenever he were given the chance. He did still fight, but nobody could get much out of him. He would usually just stand-or sit-around and wait for the enemy to come upon him, then yet still do nothing as he was beaten next to mercilessly. And when he was down, he stayed down indefinitely...at least until the match had to be forced to an early close.

Occasionally when he would fight, he would run off the field in the middle of the battle, a loud sob being heard from him. Whenever they looked down at the ground where he had run, they would see little drops of water, signifying that he had been crying. And while Master Hand was incapable of feeling true emotions, he did feel a sort of bond with that contestant...

Link.

To him, Link was his favorite of all the brawlers, though the princess of his realm did come close. Whenever someone tried to walk into his room, where he would be, and talk to him, all he would do is turn away and plead for solitude, and that was what he was given every time. They had known for quite some time that their Hero was not faring well at all, but they had not known the full extent of it. They would hear him weeping silently in the darkness of his bedroom whenever they passed by or listened in, but still nobody had a clue as to what was going on.

He rarely ever slept at all when he was there, and he was there for weeks now. Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, and Toon Link all had to stay there in order to ensure that the world they were in did not fall out of balance. Ganondorf always hated the Hero, as he was officially the villain of Hyrule. But Zelda always made him stay simply because he had to.

Even though he could not die in the Realm of Brawl, he could always suffer from other things. And the lack of sleep he had was starting to take its toll on his young body. All of the contestants-and Master Hand-that had long ears could hear a dull, quick thudding sound whenever they passed his room. They knew that sound by now to be his rapid heartbeat, as every form of moving simply wore him out and exhausted him, draining every last drop of what little energy he had in the first place. He had remained bedridden for nearly the entire time he was there, yet he could barely do anything about it if he could hardly stay conscious.

The unconsciousness that almost always overtook him did not act like true sleep. It usually would, even if someone passed out, but there was something about this form in particular that refused him any sleep. Zelda knew this well to be emotional distress, something that could not be healed by anything but Time itself. They could tell whether he had fallen asleep or passed out by looking at him. They knew he simply passed out when they saw that his tears did not stop flowing freely down his cheeks.

While he was in another half-awake stages late in one morning, Zelda took the initiative of stepping into his room, followed by many others including Master Hand. For quite some time, he simply ignored them, hoping they would eventually go away, but nobody did.

"Link, is something bothering you? You have been acting very strange lately," Zelda whispered so as not to startle him. He did not look up or even give a hint of a reply.

"Yeah, we would always have fun fighting. What happened?" asked another contestant he knew as Diddy Kong.

Still nothing.

"Link... I know I am incapable of feeling emotions, but I really do care about you, and I just want to know what happened."

"I just...don't want to talk about it, okay? I just want to be left alone..."

"But Link, if you don't tell us what is wrong, we can't help you, now can we?" Zelda asked honestly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He flinched at her soft touch and looked up ever so slightly, his deep cerulean eyes laden with despair. Just as quickly as he had looked up, he turned away once more.

"Link, Hyrule needs you right now to be strong and save it from its impending doom. Not for you to lie around until you eternally rot." That was the closest thing Ganondorf could ever get to actually caring.

"I... Master Hand, what was that song?"

"What song?"

"The one you were playing that day..."

"Oh, that?" He waved his hand as if to dismiss his words, which was his entire body, "That is one composed by an important princess from your realm. It is called Midna's Desperate Hour. Quite a beautiful piece, if I do say so myself."

He had hardly finished what he was saying before taking notice that Link had begun to cry louder. He pulled the covers back over him and tried anything he could to muffle the sound, though it was impossible at that point. The kind of sobs he emitted were the loud, pained ones. They were the kind you might get from someone who was desperately trying to hold it back, but was unable to.

"That's easy for you to say!" he burst out without warning, startling everyone, "But you don't know anything! You know nothing of what that song is about, do you? No, you don't. But I do! I know the meaning behind every word!"

Everyone seemed taken aback by his words. By the time he finished, the last bit of strength he had left in him was gone, and he fell back down into the soft bed. The action of pulling back the covers and shooting himself upright in a second had already drained him enough. He knew the truth about Midna, he knew the truth about what happened, and most of all, he knew the truth about the regret he always felt about what had happened that night.

"Link," the Hyrulean princess began, kneeling down beside him, "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said slowly enough so he could not be misheard.

"But we need to know so we can help you. Is that not clear?"

"Zelda, you won't understand! None of you will! Midna sang that song with her _last dying breath_!"

As if it were a lightbulb in her mind, everything seemed to make so much more sense. She remembered not seeing Midna for quite some time, and she had only assumed that she preferred not making herself known. But now that the realization hit her, she felt truly sorry for what Link had gone through. She only wished there was something she could do to help, but this was not something an infinite amount of wisdom and big words can help with this time.

As if telling a dark story, he began without warning, in a much calmer voice than previously, "I-I wasn't there for her when she needed it most. She lay dying atop my back after being mortally wounded. I...tried to take her to you, Zelda, as fast as my wolf feet could take me, but... I couldn't. When I heard her beginning her song of desperation, I knew that was it... She sang that song with the last of her breath... The final words took her very life along with her." He turned away once more, unable to stand the sudden weight in his chest.

"Link..." she began ever so slowly, as if forgetting how to say his name, "I had no idea..."

He did not respond, but only wept even louder than before. She instinctively drew him in for a tight hug, which he immediately returned. He buried his face in her shoulder, as if it would help to ease some of the pain. She could also feel the physical toll being taken on him from this; his grip was not nearly as strong as it usually was, his breathing was ragged and heavy. A cold sweat surrounded him and covered him head to toe, and his rapid pulse only helped in raising his temperature.

When he shifted a little in her grasp and he seemed to calm down a little, she knew he had fallen asleep. Fallen into a deep, true sleep, though not exactly restful. Before setting him down so he could be more comfortable, she turned her attention to the others.

"Before he goes back home, we need to take care of him here. Someone fetch me a cold rag for his forehead."

Olimar, the strange, plump little creature, was the first one to dash out to grab the needed item. Then she whispered something else soothingly into Link's ear, sure that he would still hear it even in dreamland.

"Don't worry about Midna, Link. She will always watch over you from the Sacred Realm. Someday, you will surely see her again..."


End file.
